Firstly I want to start by saying I love animation. Period.It’s a shame that I can’t remember the first actual animation film I watched as a child. However I do remember Dot & the Kangaroo (well known to OZ Gen Xers). Crappy animation but tear jerker of an ending. Yes of course I remember the Disney films well (an avid viewer of Sunday nights Wonderful world of Disney – after countdown no less). I can’t say I had a favourite of Disney as I liked them all...well until I watched Beauty & the Beast many years later (I discovered it after all the hype – so I missed out on the musical but saw it on ice – can you imagine 2 X 30 something gay men in a sea of children yelling Brava for a teapot skating on ice...but I digress).
But animation (cartoons in my day) shifted from hand drawn Aristocats, Cinderella, The Rescuers etc to the technological animation advances like Toy Story. Smart funny and full of toy nostalgia – aimed at kids (or Gen Xers?). There was the multicoloured brilliance of Finding Nemo... tropical fish are that alive when it comes to their colour. Then the tiny details of Bugs life – the antennae of the ants alone were fantastic. The bar was raised when the classic post war modern styled The Incredibles. Edna (clearly based on Hollywood costume designer Edith Head) I fell in love with the moment she poked her tiny head/massive bob cut on the screen. Of course there are always the shit ones like Cars – so Yawn - but generally these films are an exploration of ideas and technology telling a story.UP is yet another great animation film. Simply one man’s life dream to visit a remote jungle in South America and the old travellers he grudgingly collects along the way. The characters are funny and likable. The story is sweet - but not that Disney sugar coated nonsense - just a pleasant tale.
Now Disney ( or I should say PIXAR) have raised the bar yet again. The colours used in this film are amazing. The balloons and that bird even beat the palate of Nemo. I think they stole Florence Broadhurst old wallpaper catalogue (I’m reading her biography at the moment hence the reference but more of that later) Actually the Bird and the dog steal the show. I especially liked when the bird impersonates the old man...too funny. There are many hilarious moments in this film - The dogs with their talking collars is very clever – The main cute mutt you want to adopt, even if you are a cat person.Anything else would be telling too much. This is a film that will easily universally be accepted for any age group – entertaining for the kids as well as the adults (or should I say Gen Xers taking their kids/nephews & nieces/ Partners). Yes like Dot & the Kangaroo there are sad moments – minus the crappy animation of course...making UP Pixar’s best film to date. Period.
4 and a half balloons of out 5.
The first John Brack I saw was at the Art Gallery of WA in the 1980’s – one of his pair of ballroom dancers painted in black, white and lime green. I loved it. It was wonderful that the piece was included in the exhibition. I loved all the other ballroom paintings included as well such as Latin American Grand Final and didn’t realise that they were the inspiration of Baz Lurhman’s flashback scene in Strictly Ballroom. He managed to capture the same glamour and wonderful movement as Brack did. His later work removed subjects and concentrated on inanimate objects which although had much meaning behind them...to be honest it was a bit lost on me. I feel that his human subjects proved a better source of his style.
I then headed to St Kilda road gallery for High Tea to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Well, as a lover of High T – I must admit the gallery’s was v. good. After about 3 bottles of sparking the HT troupe made our way to the exhibition. Surprisingly after viewing Australian post war artist to the King of Surrealism was actually not such a leap – but it could have been the wine playing art travel agent.
Now Dali was never one of my favourites. It was always too ‘weird ‘when I was younger and quite frankly ‘messy’. Ah how our tastes change when we get older [thankfully for the better]as the exhibition was amazing. Subtitled ‘Liquid Desire’ it showcased some of his most spectacular works. The selection was so varied from painting to film to jewellery, sculpture and animation. Again I think some of the work was lost on me and I question the critic’s text to explain the painting – sometimes it comes across as dictating a subjective point of view of the art to the viewer – however his landscapes and portraits really touched me. The choice of colour palate and how he framed the scene [especially those of Spain] clearly showed he had a great understanding of his subject as well as his skills as an artist – same way Brack framed Collins St at 5pm – different artists & styles but creating wonderful art.
I really enjoyed the animation of Destino and thought it was a shame that Disney didn’t proceed with Dali’s animation at the time – its amazing the man had the intelligence to engage an artist but not the balls to carry it through.
Even if you are not a fan of either artist its a fantastic opportunity to view both of these masters work in the one space.
I always have sick issues - I am forever needling to do things so staying on my arse in bed watching Kerry Anne/that bogan on 10 and Oprah starts to get to me so i caught up with some serious DVD watching - Kill Bill VOL 1 & 2, The Pianist[ I did heavy weeping] and Victoria Wood as seen on TV - I know quite a combination - A bit like ordering a steak from Hogsbreath cafe with a Cheese Souffle from Jacques Raymond and a Marks & Spencer raspberry Trifle from the trolley - but I digress.
